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Ulin's golden eyes widened to the diameter of saucers. What he wouldn't give to be drinking tarbean tea with his aunts Dezra and Laura at the Inn. They always knew how to calm his frazzled nerves, usually with interesting stories and witty banter.

The sorcerer let out a clipped breath, frustrated in having no control in his current path. At least with the Orders he could fight fire with fire. Keeping a step ahead of the hunters was doable. This..was something else entirely. Whomever was pulling the strings was powerful indeed. For the second time Ulin summoned his patience, a dwindling thing these past few months.

He approached the old man to offer his support, deciding to be friendly. As much as was possible, anyway. Better to play along.

"Sorry. I don't meet many old men sleeping on ornate crystal altars. Or bears for that matter," he finally replied.

Waylorn gratefully accepted the man's help. With a grunt and several more resounding cracks, straightened to his full height. With a satisfied sigh, he stretched his back from side-to-side. As he continued stretching, he stopped suddenly and whirled on the man who had helped him up.

"OLD?! Did you call me old," Waylorn roared indignantly. Despite his seemingly agitation, the human sobered just as quickly.

"Well, maybe I am," he said thoughtfully. As he pondered, Waylorn began retrieving his weapons, grabbing the long rod last and then turned back to Ulin.

"When and where in the abyss are we?" Before Ulin could answer that question, Waylorn held out the rod he was holding and smiled. "Care to poke a bear," he asked with a mischievous grin. "Might be entertaining!"

"And that blockhead Rukin.. he might not be much of a thinker, but he can kill things well I suppose..." Argent: Cleric of Silver Master. ICRP Key of Destiny.

There was no need to poke the bear. The sounds of people's voices finally woke the animal from his sleep. The animal yawned loudly, displaying his large and very sharp teeth for Ulin, before he began the long and laborious process of rising from his enchanted hibernation. The sorcerer instinctively took a step back from “Colbert.”

Finally standing on all fours the black bear's shoulders easily came to Ulin's stomach. The sorcerer watched apprehensively as the great beast lazily extended it's stubby face towards him and sniffed. To Ulin's surprise the bear immediately blew heavily through its teeth and bobbed it's head, retreating backwards a few feet from the sorcerer. It huffed again and tapped a heavy paw against the stone floor, scraping it with its claws in the process.

Waylorn's eyes narrowed at the other man. It had been a long time since he'd seen Colbert react fearfully to another person. Looking about he finally noticed the wary woman and the two other warriors hovering behind this man in the next room. This was not the Tower of Shalost. Suddenly, Waylorn was as uncomfortable as his animal companion was with this situation. Something was very wrong here.

Simone had made it a matter of pride to not follow Ulin after his curt explanation. The odd flash of light that briefly appeared in the other room grabbed her attention, and the ensuing murmurs of conversation broke down her resolve. It appeared following the man might, in fact, be more enlightening than waiting around in silence with the other two occupying the room.

She made her way to the metal doors and peered inside in time to see Ulin helping another man in ancient garb to his feet. When she noticed the large bear waking up next to them, she let out an audible gasp.

Bhatair whislted as he too ascended the stairs once more and entered the temple. "Impressive craftsmanship," he noted as he took in his surroundings. His eyes wandered to the pair conversing and the disturbingly large bear. "Oi!" Bhatair shouted to get the middle-aged man's attention. He walked toward the two. "Bhatair Splitstone's the name," he continued, extending his arm for the man to take. The man looked like a capable fighter and Bhatair liked capable fighters.

Waylorn looked at Ulin as if he had three heads. The man was probably off his rocker, and Waylorn felt he had slept far too long to deal with crazy just yet. Instead he turned to the dwarf who had just introduced himself. At the same time, Colbert shuffled over to the dwarf and began sniffing him robustly, nearly bowling him over. Despite the situation, his and his animal friend's fear, Waylorn couldn't help but chuckle.

"Name's Waylorn Wyvernsbane. And that's Colbert," he added, pulling on Colbert's nubby tail in a half-hearted effort to call him off of Bhatair.